Pickled Spring

Every summer, and through the fall, my mother and grandmother harvested from their gardens and preserved the bounty by canning.  For months on end, almost every day for months on end, in a hot kitchen, you'd find my mother slaving over peaches, pears, green beans, apples, berries, grapes, tomatoes, tomatoes, tomatoes, cucumbers (pickles, pickles, pickles), the rewards of which we'd eat through the winter.

The "charm" of  bottling and canning never carried over and the thought of spending hours and hours and hours in the kitchen just turns me cold.  I'll make gallons of Vicki's Roasted Tomato Sauce (to freeze) and may try my hand at one or two other garden delights...but canning will not happen. 

When I read Amanda's post on pickling radishes I was reminded of my childhood summers in the kitchen, but her idea didn't require any canning techniques and, with a bounty of radishes in the garden, I had to give it a try. 

This recipe was quick, easy and preserved spring in a jar of golden liquid. The results are crisp, tangy, and tasty.  We have enough radishes to make a second batch, but not to worry...this is so easy, there is no danger of my turning into a domestic goddess.

Comments

[Carole]

Great idea for the radishes! I've done a little canning in the form of grape jelly and it's a LOT of work. It's always hot, too.

[Beverly]

Those look delicious!

[Kym]

Those look so yummy! I've always thought canning sounded rather ... "romantic". . . but hot and bothersome, too. I might be able to handle some pickles radishes, though. Mmmmm.

[Vicki]

I don't know if it's the same in Utah, but among the many outbuildings on an old Wisconsin farm is one called "the summer kitchen." In the days before central air, all of the heat-producing baking, canning, etc., of summer took place out there. I try to time my tomato sauce-making for days when we could use a little extra heat in the kitchen. ; )

Meanwhile, I hope there are some radishes in my CSA box! I'm not a big fan, usually, but I'd love to try this.

[CindyCindy]

Cool. I always wanted to learn to can, but my mom had had enough of that when she was growing up during the depression. Now, I'm just too lazy;-P

[amanda {the habit of being}]

I'm so glad you made some! We love them in our house and they're so easy :)

[Chris]

Pickled radishes?! O.O

[Birdsong]

You may find your way to that charm yet! For me, it has been knowing I was capturing summer in a bottle to open later, in the dead of winter, and be reminded that summer was indeed real and would return.

[Karen]

Pickled radishes sound lovely! I'll have to try that.

[Rebekah]

Oh how I love homemade pickles, it is really a shame that canning is a dieing artform.

[Sarah h]

Yum

[Suzy]

I wish I were pickled...

[Cookie]

How cool!

I've already begun my annual inner debate on whether or not I'm making pickles this year. It's a shame we can't make them without all the kitchen time and such. ;^)

xo

[Katherine]

You know I do a lot of canning, but no-can pickling is pretty awesome too. You can pickle so many things basically this way. Just about any hard vegetable from your garden. I do it in addition to canning. Take a look; I think you'll like the idea. It's one way to use vegetables when they're coming on too fast and furious mid- and late summer.

http://kitchengardeners.org/recipes/euell-gibbons-dill-crock

[Knitnana]

I'm with you...canning in the heat isn't a lot of fun. Much prefer the frozen method.
That looks interesting, with the radishes!
(((hugs)))

[jill]

I've been meandering my way through Kingsolver's Animal, Vegetable, Miracle and love the idea of preserving veggies. The reality? Other than making my tomato sauce, we'll eat everything as we pick it. Sometimes I think we eat our veggies in a rather grimy state, as they seldom get into the house before consumption! Your radishes look heavenly and tempting to recreate in my kitchen!

[Kim]

OOoohh....Ken would LOVE these!

[Kristin]

I refuse to can, too. My aversioon stems from my job T the historic site....days and days in a 100+ degree 1870s summer kitchen drenched in the smell of various brines and liquids....yuck. Fortunately, that was the only bad thing I took from there!

[Helen]

On your list of 'summer cooking' you for got the bushels of corn. Granted my mother (and I) put them up in the freezer, but they had to be boiled first. I remember many hot nights of doing tomatoes or corn. Always after dark so it was marginally cooler. :)

[Anne]

I dunno... the first step on a slippery slope? :)

[Norma]

What a GREAT idea! Never heard of this. My radishes didn't radish this year. I got some nice greens from them, which we ate, but hardly any little red globes. I suppose I should plant some more...

[gayle]

We've got radishes, but our lettuce seed (repeatedly) washed away, so no salad to eat them in. I'll have to give pickled radishes a try!
I can tomato sauce every year, but freeze the rest of the veg. Hot, hot, hot!

[Laurie]

Hmmm. This sounds tempting. Smith must be harvesting tons of stuff.